Monday, June 22, 2015

Because I'm Worth It (GG #4) by Cecily Von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

Because I’m Worth It takes things up a notch for our favorite Upper East Siders. Time has passed rather quickly and the more things change, the more they stay the same. Some are given second chances, some are cleaning up their acts and some are exploring whole new worlds to discover themselves no matter what it costs those they love. As usual, we can expect a luxurious setting with tons of backstabbing, sex and rich teen angst.

(And we see the age old statement: give a girl a new haircut and she can take on the world. Wait, that’s not a thing? Oh…)

With a budding romance in rehab just beginning, other relationships fall apart. There’s plenty of romantic plots as per usual in this installment, and while some of it seems excessive and silly it still serves as an trashy entertainment at its finest. There’s a reason these books, and the “adaption”, are so popular: they are scandalous and reminiscent of a train wreck you can’t help but to watch.

On the topic of romance, something unexpected happens to our favorite teen queen B: Blair meets someone who has such a classic handsome tone to him that he just may be the next leading man to her Audrey Hepburn; the only catch is massive seeing as he is a friend of her fathers and is the man who is giving her a second chance at her Yale interview.

Will Blair Waldorf fuck up this second chance at her dream university? Well, maybe. Maybe. Everyone knows you shouldn’t mix business, in this case her education, with pleasure – but the temptation of playing with fire is so strong on this one. It’s not all unsurprising knowing our girls love for romantics and playing out the movie of her life.

Is this the man who she’ll, at last, lose her V-card to?

The answer is no.

Which is great, actually, because there’s too much at play in this relationship. It’s obvious she’s into it but not that into it. Blair longs for the sort of feeling that at this point in her life, only Nate has given her – that feeling of love and lust, passion. And things become more complicated when she realizes this man she is seeing is not only married but has a daughter that goes to her school.

Although it’s undeniable that the Blair Waldorf we know so well from the show is sharper, sassier and full of much more wit than BOOK!Blair, the thing that strikes me about this Blair – the real Blair – is she knows when to leave. Surely she has her problems and is rather romantic and naive about the men in her life, but in Because I’m Worth It we’re shown once more how fast she’ll leave a situation if it makes her feel anything less than brilliant.

I know, I know, I should be discussing plot points of the other characters. Blair isn’t the only character we hear from in this installment, but it’s the most interesting plot in my honest opinion.

We see Nate in rehab and watch as he is introduced to Georgina, a girl who is much sweeter and less obnoxious in the show. She is great in the show, thoroughly despicable and entertaining, don’t get me wrong, but like almost all the characters in the adaption she was butchered beyond recognition.

Described as a lookalike to Snow White except coked up, Georgina serves as a small character who goes on to date Natie while they are attending rehab together. Her biggest flaws and trouble stirring does not go to scheming, it goes to her substance abuse issues and shows us that Nate in all his faults in a caring, gentle teenager who really wants to look out for her.

But is it love?

With Blair and Serena on the back burner of his mind, we already know the answer to this. Yet it’s a sweet and spooky relationship that causes Nate to grow a bit more; something that is a bit startling in all the right ways.

But can it last?

We see a bit of Serena that is weaker, in my opinion, than her presence in other books. She’s there but doesn’t quite hold my interest. A strong point of this book is the presence of her and Blair as something of a mentors to some of the younger girls at Constance – including Jenny Humphrey.

Jenny and her newly found friendship with a girl takes the stage for fun and experimentation. It’s nice to see a realistic friendship like these two as they do typical friendship things and somehow wind up experimenting with kissing each other. It’s very high school and sweet in all its nearly uncomfortable nature.

Aside from this, she has her eye on an unknown boy, one who Blair helps get his attention for her, and perhaps she has found her match. Or maybe not. Regardless, we see a glimpse of Waverly!Jenny in the way she approaches many things.

As for everyone else….

Vanessa and Dan have hit a speed bump as Dan’s head gets a bit too big from all the attention he has been getting. This is unsurprising, as it was building up for quite some time and it’s safe to say that their relationship as they know it, for now, is done.

Overall its plots are entertaining but rather uneventful compared to previous and future installments. It's fun and as usual, you shouldn't expect much from it!

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BOOKED J is part literary part lifestyle blog featuring book reviews, discussions, hauls and photography, with an occasional sprinkle of personal writing tossed in for good measure. Now accepting blog tours and release week blitz. Created in the spring of 2007 by Jessica, now a twenty-something year old singer and avid reader from the Chicago area, who has no actual idea what she is doing.

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